The Path of a Shinobi
by Uzumaki-Shino
Summary: AU watch as Naruto grows up with a guardian that is willing to be both father and mentor, and show Naruto the path towards becoming a true Shinobi. No Yaoi, Pairings Undecided.
1. Prologue Fate's Silly Games

Naruto

By Uzumaki Shino

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/N: Slight reality change, Naruto will just be the same age as Sasuke, Shino, and the rest of the class he normally graduates with. So they will all be eleven at the time they graduate. Why? Because I feel like it.

Prologue – Fate's Silly Games

The smoke was just barely settling in on a war torn village in the midst of a great forest. More then a quarter of the village was in ruins, buildings smashed, roads demolished, and bodies littered the entire area. It was a somber scene as the survivors of the greatest catastrophe in Konoha history gathered to begin putting their lives back together.

A man reluctantly dressed in billowing white robes and a wide hat swept down the destroyed a roadway surveying the damage and heartache that had been dealt to a village that was once again left in his unwilling hands. The Sandaime Hokage of Konoha did not have time however to help with the cleanup of debris or even with the desperate search for survivors no he had a purpose; he was in search of the savior of the village the hero that would hold their antagonist in eternal prison. The Hokage rushed to the outskirts of the crumbling wall and it was with two other figures that the Hokage found that precious hero.

"Kakashi, Rin how is he doing," asked the Hokage worried evident in his voice. Both battle weary Shinobi turned towards him and there on the ground between them, nestled in a little blue blanket, was an infant that chose that moment to start wailing.

"Naruto is doing fine, Lord Hokage. But Sensei… I mean the Yondaime is…" Kakashi's voice trailed off and sobs began to wrack his body. The Hokage clasped him on the shoulder.

"He did the only thing he could have, he did what was best for the village Kakashi. He will be remembered, and he would want you to be strong. Now more then ever." The woman, Rin, bent and picked up the wailing child and began to rock him gently.

"He is so precious. Lord Hokage how can he be holding a Demon?" It was clear that Rin too was having trouble handling reality.

"Rin he is precious and he is the hero one of two that are responsible for our continued existence, but as much as I hate to say it Naruto must come with me. I need to take him back to the council they are demanding to see him." The firm set in the Hokage's face was enough for the two Shinobi who took one last look at the infant now held in the Hokage's arms before whipping away in the night. The Hokage took a deep breath and looked at the child in his arms. His wailing ceased, the boy met the Hokage's glance with the most alarming pair of sky blue eyes the old man had ever met. With a sigh the Hokage began his trek back towards the council chamber.

"Well young one let us see what fate has in store for you now."

"… Now see here! There is no way we can allow anyone to raise that demon child!" Demanded a lavender-eyed man. The council room was in an uproar over the devastation caused by the Kyuubi and the fact that it was still "alive". Sarutobi took a deep breath.

"Why do you insist that the child is the demon? Have I not made it clear that the demon is trapped within him, in an inescapable prison? Where is the faith in the Yondaime, the faith that caused you to give him the title of Hokage? The faith you put into him when he fought the demon to save us all? Can you not put that same faith on his ability to seal away the demon?" The council quieted for a moment, allowing the Hokage's words to settle in upon them. Sarutobi took that opportunity to proceed with his recommendation to the council. "I have decided that as the child is an orphan of the very beast he imprisons that he will need a new Guardian rather then being put into the orphanage. Though he is no danger to us, should our enemies find out about him we cannot risk them trying to kidnap him and use him against us. Thus I propose two things. First that the fact of Kyuubi's imprisonment is from this point on an S-Class secret on a need to know basis only. Second I will appoint him a Guardian that I deem appropriate for the child's… unique situation." The council again was silent; Sarutobi could feel the mounting tension in the room. His voice barely a whisper the Hokage delivered his final challenge. "Are there any who… oppose me?"

"That is your mission, are you willing to accept it?" The masked man in question took a moment to consider. Slipping his mask off he nodded to Sarutobi, who eased back into his chair with a sigh of relief.

"Excellent! I was really hoping that you would. All that remains is this envelope which contains keys to your new apartment and your first weeks pay for your new A-class mission. Last thing is your cover name, I have decided that you will be called Yamato."

A/N: Please Review!! Hit me with suggestions and acclaim, monetary praises will be accepted cash only in unmarked 5s, 10s, and 20s.


	2. Chapter 1 Scenes from a Hat

The Path of a Shinobi

By Uzumaki Shino

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

A/N: This is honestly more like part 2 of the prologue but that just seems wrong for some reason. This is just the revised story of Naruto's youth. Probably not going to show too much in the way of Naruto being alienated by the Villagers and other Ninjas, but it is still there just in lesser amounts because Yamato keeps him more sequestered from the village.

Chapter 1 – Scenes from a Hat

Naruto Age 4:

"… 3.. 2.. 1! Here I come!" A young boy no older then 4 pulled his head away from the tree he was counting against and took off out of the clearing he was standing in. As he dashed through the woods he carried himself in the most peculiar way, his ears and nose were twitching uncontrollably. "Where could he be…" muttered the boy dressed in olive green pants and brown shirt. He made a leap off one tree trunk to the low hanging branch of another tree and balanced in a crouch peering around him into the dense tree tops. "Dad is so dumb I can never find him he is too good at hiding!" The boy complained before leaping to another nearby tree where he paused again to listen.

The dense forest sounded exactly as it should, the birds were chirping merry tunes to one another and the rustle of small animals in the treetops was clear. The forest was full of all the normal sights vibrant greens were predominant as they should be during the lush Fire Country spring. All in all it was a gorgeous day in Konoha and despite the boy's inability to track down his father, he was infinitely pleased with life.

Just as the young boy was about to leap to the next tree convinced that the object of his search was nowhere nearby, a hand grasped his shoulder.

"YEARGH!!!!" Cried the freaked boy, so startled he nearly fell from his perch. A loud laugh brought the kid out of his hyperventilating to turn and star at the offending man behind him. Literally rolling around in laughter on the branch was the large darkly clad man the boy had come to know as his father. "Hey Dad what is the big idea, you almost killed me!!!" The man just laughed all the harder until the boy smacked him upside the head.

"Ouch! Hey what is the big idea," the man exclaimed rubbing the bump quickly forming on the side of his head.

"That's what I am asking you dummy head!" The man chuckled a bit.

"Naruto what have I told you about the rules of the game?" Without waiting for an answer from the boy he continued. "The two most important skills for a Ninja are Stealth and Evasion, that is why we play Hide and Seek all the time… plus it is tons of fun!" Naruto huffed and took a seat cross-legged on the branch his eyes squinted in frustrated thought.

"But I am Seeking," he finally exclaimed! "Why do I have to be sneaky when I am trying to find you Yamato?" Yamato took a seat on the branch as well across from Naruto.

"Because in the Shinobi world you have must know where you enemy is while he does not know where you are, therefore Stealth is just as necessary when seeking as it is when hiding. If your enemy knows where you are while he is hiding then he can set an ambush for you like I did. Naruto I'm going to keep pounding it into your head, a Shinobi needs to be stealthy all the time in everything. That means, when hiding, when seeking, with your techniques, with your abilities, with your routines, and your motives. Do you understand?"

Naruto took a moment as his young mind again digested the information. "Yes Father, I understand." After a moment more of deep concentration Naruto's frown turned into a grin.

"What is it Naruto?" With surprising speed Naruto jumped away from the tree and tossed a water balloon right at the astonished face of his father, all this followed by a whoop of glee.

"Gotcha Dad!!!" A sopping wet Yamato took off to give chase with a growl despite the goofy grin on his face. 'This kid of mine,' he thought.

Naruto Age 5ish:

Dark clouds filled the sky and a light mist falls upon Konoha the weather causes the forest surrounding Konoha to take on a somewhat foreboding appearance; but that does little to hinder the exuberance of a certain young lad. Not far into the forest in a small clearing our hero to be Naruto is panting heavily standing as still as he possibly can.

"Switch Naruto!!" A voice yelled from deeper within the woods. With a groan Naruto reluctantly shifted into a different stance. His feet shoulder length apart and basically underneath him, his left foot pointed forward the other slightly tilted to the right. He brings his hands in close to his body left in front of the right concealing the right hand from a forward observer. His chest square to the front of him. "Excellent Naruto! What is this stance used for?"

"It is the basic form for facing an opponent with a handheld weapon and little threat of using projectiles," he groaned. "I thought you said that there should be no set stances and forms in Taijutsu, Dad. What happened to that?" Yamato shook his head as he continued to practice his control of Mokuton Ninjutsu, by controlling the growth and movement of dozens of the plants around him.

"That's correct Naruto, Taijutsu should be part of your bodies natural habits and reactions. The reason that you are learning stances now is to train your body to have better natural habits and reactions. Eventually you will be able to break away from strict form into a blend of form and instinct, that is the ideal." Naruto nodded his head slightly as he forced himself to maintain form. It made sense to him sort of; in a fight natural reactions will always be a little bit faster then even trained ones. With a determined sigh Naruto focused again on form alone.

Naruto Age 6:

"Happy Birthday Naruto!!" Yamato grinned widely as his young ward's face split into a wide grin at the sight of his few acquaintances… and of course the large cake and mound of presents didn't hurt either.

"Dad this is awesome!" It was only after the initial excitement wore down and the cake was passed around that Naruto noticed an intruder. "Hey old man with the big hat who the hell are you?!?" Everyone in the room sweat dropped at the kid's audacity towards the Sandaime Hokage. In the stunned silence the Hokage began to chuckle.

"Why Naruto I'm surprised you don't know, I am the Hokage, the leader of the village," he kindly explained. Naruto was far from impressed; in fact he was slightly perturbed.

"What? How can such an old goofy looking man be the leader of the village," Naruto demanded? Yamato took that as his que to step in amid the laughter of the gathered Nin.

"Now Naruto you need to have more respect for the Hokage, he is the strongest Ninja in the village! He could kick you ass if he wanted to! I sorry Hokage-sama he doesn't get out much, and his manners are a little lacking," Yamato finished, shooting a glare at Naruto. This all served to frustrate Naruto more as he puffed out his chest and pointed at Mr. Large Hat.

"Now listen here there is no way that Grandpa here can beat me up! He would probably break his hip trying to get out of his chair!" At this point most of the adults in the room were near tears and the Hokage was having trouble containing his mirth.

"Is that so Naruto," asked Sarutobi, his eyes flashing beneath his hat. Naruto shook his head firmly. "Then why don't we take this outside." Yamato was about to raise a protest but was cut off by Naruto's confident proclamation.

"Bring it on old man! Careful of that hip."

It wasn't long before everyone had made there way outside onto the street and Naruto and the Hokage were standing a little ways away from each other, and a silver haired Shinobi with his Forehead Protector covering one eye. He dropped his hand quickly and shouted "Begin!"

Before Naruto could blink he was neck deep in the ground and a kunai was at his throat. Looking up Naruto saw the smiling old man looking down at him. Instead of a glare Naruto looked up in awe.

"That was awesome!!! How did you do that Grandpa?" Pulling the young boy out of the ground Sarutobi patted him on the head, much to the boy's chagrin.

"I'm the strongest Shinobi in the village Naruto and I have to be so I can protect everyone," the Hokage answered. Naruto puffed out his chest again and gave the Hokage a determined look.

"If that's the case then I am going to become the best Hokage ever and protect everyone too Grandpa!" All of the gathered ninja got a good chuckle out of that statement, but the Hokage adopted a strange smile and mused up the boy's hair again.

"I'm sure you will…" Naruto shot him another glare that quickly transformed into a devious grin.

"And I'm going to start right now!" With a hoot Naruto swiped the hat right off the Hokage's head and took off running laughing at the top of his lungs.

Naruto Age 8:

"Wake up Naruto!!" The boy in question twisted deeper into his bed burying his face into his pillows a small groan escaping him. "Naruto you don't want to be late on your first day of Academy!" This time Naruto's groan was far more pronounced as he grudgingly rolled out of bed. After a quick shower Naruto put on the outfit he thought made him look most Shinobi-like. He had a basic pair of black training pants (A/N: think basic martial arts pants), tucked into his standard black shin guards and his black Shinobi sandals. On top Naruto had a long sleeve netted shirt, a black t-shirt, and a dark gray vest complete with hidden pockets on the inside. All in all Naruto thought he looked pretty darn good.

Upon entering the kitchen Yamato took a moment to admire the young boy, no Shinobi now he reminded himself, that he had come to think of as his own son.

"Hey Dad are you ready to go," the boy asked as he grabbed a nutrition bar. Yamato shook himself out of his daze and gave his son a big grin.

"Of course, but before we go I have something for you," with that Yamato tossed Naruto a familiar looking gray canvas bag. "Little present for you as you enter the Academy." Naruto looked about as happy as he had ever been as he strapped the bag to his leg.

"Does this mean you are going to start teaching me how to use Shuriken and Kunai," asked the excited boy? Yamato nodded and swelled with joy as Naruto literally tackled him in a hug.

"Of course Naruto, you will be doing it at the Academy too, but they don't spend quite the amount of time that I believe they should."

Upon giving his father a last hug goodbye Naruto entered into the classroom that would be his prison for the next 3 years. Sitting behind a desk at the front of the classroom was a young Chunin with a scar running across his nose. Naruto walked right up to the desk and put out his hand confidently. "Nice to meet you instructor, I am Uzumaki Naruto." The man gave him a brief calculating stare before bestowing him with a friendly smile and gripped his hand in a shake.

"Nice to meet you Naruto, I am Instructor Iruka, but you can call me Iruka-sensei. Now have a seat and wait for class to start." Naruto turned to take in his fellow students. There were only a few other kids there and Naruto took a moment to check them all out. There was a broody looking kid with reddish eyes and a funny looking haircut in one corner of the classroom. Near the back there was a boy with dark hair in a tight ponytail that was fully asleep. Right in the middle was a boy wearing a hooded furry jacket, and the strangest thing was there was a small white puppy sleeping on his head. Naruto made a quick decision and plopped himself down next to the boy and his dog.

"Hey I'm Uzumaki Naruto, what's your name? And what is with that dog on your head?" The boy turned him, and Naruto took note of the weird markings on his face.

"Nice to meet ya, I'm Inuzuka Kiba and this furry little guy is my friend Akamaru," the boy greeted exuberantly. Atop his head the puppy gave a friendly bark. Naruto shook his head as they began talking about all the awesome kick butt stuff they were going to learn in the Academy.

It wasn't long before everyone was there and seated and Iruka stood up to address the class.

"I would like to welcome everyone to Konoha's Shinobi Academy, I am your Instructor Iruka. I would like to begin by saying that while we will be having lots of fun over the next three years; I want you all to keep one thing in mind. Being a Shinobi is a serious occupation, the skills and information you gain in this classroom will give you the power to kill and to save, the power to survive or to be killed. So learn well and reach toward the sky, because someday your effort here may well decide life or death. Now why don't we begin your education."

A/N: Well there you go the scene has been set. Next Chapter will be Naruto's graduation and meeting his team as well as a few other surprises. Please Review and let me know what you think.


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